Age-induced cognitive disturbances in Parkinson's disease.
We investigated the influence of age on the occurrence of cognitive disturbances in Parkinson's disease (PD), by evaluating neuropsychological performances in early- and late-onset groups of patients (less than 45 and greater than 65 years, respectively), individually paired for all the variables of parkinsonism and compared with age-matched controls. Cognitive disorders were limited in the early-onset PD group compared with their age-matched controls. Conversely, we found global cognitive changes, including marked frontal lobe dysfunction, in the late-onset group. This specific cognitive impairment in older patients related to a significant interaction between the aging and disease processes. Late onset seemed to compound the subtle cognitive changes associated with the disease for which the early-onset group compensated. This compounding effect of aging may explain, at least partially, the high frequency of dementia in older PD patients.
Dubois
B
B
Clinique de Neurologie et Neuropsychologie, Paris, France.
Pillon
B
B
Sternic
N
N
Lhermitte
F
F
Agid
Y
Y
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*